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Magic of Etherel
Basic Rules-Samiyel Five Houses The magic of Samiyel is separated into five elemental houses, each of which has a dual nature. In the Free Lands, the Houses are represented by The Geophreic Saints. The Houses and their natures are as folllows. * House of Mother Shiri: sa and moon energy. Mother Shiri is represented by the peacock. * House of Edna: Fire and star energy. Edna is represented by the fox with nine tails. * House of Emediel: Air and sun energy. Emediel is represented by the falcon. * House of Madthria: Water and darkness energy. Madthria is represented by the Teniel, a great whiskered water snake. * House of Dragoconus: Earth and planetary energy. Dragoconus is represented by the wyvern. Rules * Each sentient mortal has a unique sa frequency. Through this frequency, they are able to perceive the spirit world and draw on the energies of elemental spirits. This is how magical acts, called rites are constructed. * A mage cannot communicate with the spirits of the elements if he cannot hear them. Blind people often have a heightened ability to use magic, while deaf people are incapable of using it at all. The act of Deafening is used to magically and physically render a mage incapable of using magic. As opposed to deafening, when a mage wishes to block an foe from using magic against him, they may perform a Silencing rite, which temporarily blocks the rival's ability to hear the spirits. Silencing must be maintained constantly by the caster, as the effect is not passive. * Mages in the modern era hear the spirits communications as music, serving as the conductor and drawing spirits in to create harmonies to various effects. * The spirits do not claim allegiance to any one mage. They do not have the same understanding of right and wrong, good and evil. They do not exist for the sake of preserving virtues commonly understood to have a polarity among sentient mortals. * Spirits are technically dead, though they have never known life. They do not exist in space in the same way that mortal creatures do. Rather, they are free to appear in many places at once for use by many mages. * Mages can force a spirit to comply with them, but it is generally better for the spirit to enter into a rite willingly. A spirit who is forced will always try to resist, causing undue burden to the mage. A spirit who is a willing participant in a rite will tend to deliver a stronger and more efficient result. Magical Subsystems Enchanting Enchanting is the art of imbuing physical objects with magical powers. It relies on the use of specific materials with inherent magical properties, and activating these properties by injecting the materials with elemental energies. A wide range of effects can be achieved dependent on which materials are used in the object, and the weights of those materials. Rules * Enchanting works by manipulating spiritual energy, often passively, through a physical material that is susceptible to enchantment. The object may not require the active participation of a mage to work after it has been enchanted The spiritual energy is typically siphoned through the end product to achieve numerous, varied effects that may have conditions for activation or may not, and may be very complex r very simple. Some of these objects draw their energy primarily from celestial bodies while others draw their energy primarily from mages. Some may even have specific activation conditions that require a mage's sa frequency to be active in their environment to be sued. '' * Enchantment uses metals, gemstones and organic materials as the substrates for enchanting rites. Each has unique properties that, when met with specific spirits, will produce specific and unique effects. The Enchanter's understanding of these properties and the interactions they have with the spirits is his or her greatest asset. A skilled enchanter will have studied these interactions in depth and written them into a grimoire. An enchatner's grimoire is unique in that it provides instructions for building the enchanted object and using it. * Material type and weight are critical to a properly functioning enchanted object. The shape and size of the object does not matter, though certain types of enchantment lend better to certain shapes. For instance, an object that produces fire is better served by taking the form of a torch than a pendant. An object that drains blood from an animal would be best served if it took the form of a knife rather than a helmet. Enchanting Materials Metals Metals are separated into three classes: Sacred, unbound and bound. These classifications are based on fluidity of purpose and ease of use. = Sacred Metals = * Iron: enhances a mages physical abilities (strength, agility, etc.). The use of iron in enchanting is widely considered taboo as it poisons the blood over time, shortening the lifespan. * Cobalt: enhances effect radius. Tethers effect to another object. * Cadmium: used for binding. Binds or absorbs energy. Commonly used in binding spirits and for consistent and passive Silencing of a mage. * Silver: amplifies magical power. Effective go between for rites. Facilitates more effective blending of frequencies. * Gold: used to create spacial barriers. Opposes, but does not break, the binding effects of cadmium. = Unbound Metals = Unbound metals are useful in conjunction with other enchanting materials, but are useless on their own. * Platinum: used for setting conditions of activation. Commonly used to tether rites to a time or trigger them in the presence of specific energies like individual ''sa freauencies or elemental energies. * Tin: used for refraction, and as a medium for conducting energies from magnetism, heat and mass. = Bound Metals = Bound metals have elemental natures and are used for the explicit purpose of drawing those energies into the object. * Copper: binding fire and starlight. * Lead: binding water and darkness. * Zinc: binding air and sunlight. * Tungsten: binding earth and gravity. * Aluminum: binding sa ''and moonlight. Gemstones: Gemstones are separated into four classes based on nature of purpose. An unofficial fifth classification exists exclusively for one gemstone whose purpose is not directly aligned with the natures of the other four classes. = Linguistic = * Topaz: for receiving communications. * Peridot: for sending communications. = Elemental = * Aquamarine: for storing and ejecting water. * Onyx: for storing and ejecting light. * Quartz: storing and ejecting darkness. * Calcite: for storing and ejecting fire. * Ruby: for storing and ejecting earth. * Emerald: for storing and ejecting air. = Predator = * Diamond: for casting illusions. * Fire Opal: for casting sleep. * Lapis Lazuli: for slowing movement. = Prey: = * Turquoise: for dispelling illusions. * Fire Opal: for dispelling sleep. * Agate: for accelerating movement. = Jade = * Jade has two natures both tied to the spiritual world. The first is in housing and ejecting sentient souls. The second is in negating Gifts of the Blood. Organic Materials Organic materials have a broad array of purposes, most of which are very narrow in scope. They are not commonly used among lesser enchanters, but are powerful when put to use properly. Many enchanters of high skill swear by the uses of organic materials in enchanting. * Wood: used for repressing spirits. * Bone: used as a conduit for cursing and curse breaking. * Gourds: used to displace curses and magical rites. * Fur or hair: used as a conduit for controlling living creatures actions. * Reptile scales: used for manipulating living organic matter. * Fish scales: used for storing and ejecting healing energies. * Feathers: used for inducing and soothing emotions. The particular emotion is specific to the type of feather. ** Raven or crow: fear ** Eagle: anger ** Peacock: confidence ** Kingfisher: melancholy ** Hummingbird: joy ** Grouse: intuition ** Falcon: morality ** Chicken: suspicion ** Cardinal: vulnerability ** Sparrow: love ** Vulture: self-possession Life Magic Life magic is the manipulation of life energies, primarily in plants and fungi. The manipulation of animal life is taboo. When referring exclusively to the manipulation of plants and fungi, the colloquial term ''Gardening is often used as a substitute. Rules: * Life has its most potential upon its entrance into the world. It has its most value at the penultimate moment before it transitions into death. The versatility of life energy (its openness to manipulation) is linked to the relationship between its potential and cumulative value. The point at which life has the most potential is the point at which it is most versatile. The point at which life has its most value is the point at which it is the most rigid. ** The trajectory of life energy may only be altered during the seed stage, or prior to sprouting. * Established life has unique language, allowing a Gardener to communicate with it in the particular dialect it speaks. ** Trees communicate through electrical signals passed from root to root. ** Grasses communicate through complex pheromonal signals sometimes referred to as perfumes. Flowering plants communicate via the same pathway. ** Fungi communicate via spores with complete, contained messages embedded within them in the form of complex compounds. * Understanding plant behavior is key to manifesting attributes of one plant into another. This process is referred to as seeding. * Taboos: There are three taboos surrounding the use of Life Magic. *# Imparting sentience into a non-sentient life form. This is done by embedding mortal genetic code into fungal spores or pollen prior to fertilization or planting. *# Hybridizing animal life forms. This must be done prior to the onset of gestation. It requires taking life from both of the material creatures, blurring the lines between life magic and necromancy. The process requires a surrogate and often places the life of that surrogate in danger. The method was discovered by studying the breeding habits o''f darkworms,'' who manifest a similar ability naturally when they reach adolescence. *# Seeding established life. Manipulating the physical structure of a born life form has the benefit of imbuing the subject with the properties of the seeding material; however, the process dramatically shortens the lifespan. Healing Healing is the act of intervening to mend a wound using magic. It is a common practice among mages; however, the common mage lacks the skill to heal serious injuries, and may not be capable of hiding signs of their work. Skilled mages may both heal near-fatal injuries and hide traces of the work they have done. The skill level of the Healer is directly attributed to how well they can locate signs of the healing that has been performed by other healers, and how well they can hide their own work. Rules: * Healing is tied to time. The Healer channels energy into the patient. healing rites are water dominant and incorporate earth and sa energies. As such, the best healers are those with a water affinity. * Healing works by reversing the damage to the body or neutralizing the foreign agents causing the ailment (in the case of infections and diseases of the body). The practice does not extend to the treatment of psychological conditions or, in most cases, curse breaking. * Healed wounds, if located, can be unhealed. Healed wounds leave no physical traces on the body, but the work of a mage can be uncovered through the practice of prospecting. * Prospecting: ** Prospecting is the practice of locating signs of previous healing in an individual. ** A mage of more skill in healing than the mage who performed a given healing act will be able to see the healing that was done by the previous Healer. What is visible can, in most cases, be unhealed. ** Prospecting is a fire dominant rite, which also incorporates energies from sa, water and earth. * Unhealing: ** Unhealing is the act of breaking open wounds by accelerating them into their natural time-state. It can be used to reproduce burns, cuts , abrasions and other injuries. ** Unhealing cannot be done to bring back healed infections or diseases, as these are caused by foreign agents invading the body, or by the immune system. While these ailments can be healed, this healing is done by purging the foreign agents from the body, or by bolstering the immune system against the disease affecting the patient. ** Unhealing the wound is done by treating it with the direct compliment of the rite that was used to heal it. ** Unhealed wounds can be magically healed, but the process is complicated by the necessity of removing the curse of unhealing from the reopened wound. Often, this process takes more time than the wound requires to kill the patient. To break the curse, a healer must use a sa dominant analogue to the original healing rite, which usually means reverse engineering the unhealing rite. If done improperly, the process may worsen the injury. * A healer cannot heal himself. * Conditions of the brain cannot safely be healed without causing damage. Psychological conditions cannot be healed unless by the intervention of a Watcher or Draem. ** In the case of psychological conditions, most Watchers and Draem lack the skill to perform the required healing without creating unintended consequences for the patient. The repercussions of healing healing psychological conditions improperly can be disastrous. Most Watchers and Draem will refuse to perform this kind of healing on the principle that they could inadvertently push the patient into insanity. Gifts of the Blood Thought to have originated with the Pure World Clans, Gifts fo the Blood are innate magical abilities with complex features which some mortals are born with. They are the result of mortals being touched by spirits with a sa affinity while in the womb. Signs of these gifts may take up to five years to manifest. Each gift is the result of contact with two spirits. The spirits are specific to the gifts. A mortal touched by spirits related to different gifts will be born without either. A mage touched by only one spirit most often suffers physical or psychological damage which may be difficult or impossible to heal. Types of Gifts: = Gift of the Draem or Gift of the Watcher: = Draem and Watchers (as they are known in Etherel) possess the ability to manipulate minds, and manifest themselves inside the minds of others. In some nations, they are revered; in others, they are the subject of fear and hatred. Abilities: * Draem are capable of influencing the minds of those who come under their influence either permanently or temporarily. They may insert false memories, erase or view memories as if they lived them themselves, and fundamentally alter a person's personality by rewriting their past. * Draem are capable of projecting their consciousnesses into the minds of others, leaving their body behind temporarily in the process. * Draem may lock a person away from their faculties, taking control of the victim's body while the victim is forced to watch as a passenger within themselves. * There are three taboos which are represented by doors i the deepest levels of the Draem's own mind. Entering through these doors is considered taboo among the orders of Dream and Watchers, but each door grants the Draem a powerful new ability otherwise unattainable. = Gift of the Seem: = Seem possess the ability to put elemental spirits at ease. Elemental spirits called by a Seem are less likely to resist being used in rites, allowing the Seem better control over the spirit and access to more of the spirit's power than would otherwise be possible. The upper limit of a Seem's power far exceeds that of a mage born without the gift. = Gift of the Whisperer = Whisperers possess the ability to make people believe their lies. Particularly gifted whisperers are capable of making people believe the most absurd lies they tell. Whisperers have a passive ability to generate empathy in their victims. Their words have a quality that lulls the victim into a state of amiability and camaraderie, simultaneously making them question their own judgments. Under the influence of a Whisperer, the victim becomes complacent, wishing to believe the Whisperer over what they know. In cases where a victim is confronted by a particularly powerful Whisperer, they may even believe the lie the Whisperer has told them when presented with factual evidence that is counter to the lies they have been told. Mages can learn to resist the Gift of the Whisperer, though it is rarely effective enough to break the trance while the victim is in the presence of the Whisperer. = Gift of the Seer = Sometimes called Oracles or Prophets, Seers have the ability to glimpse the future. What they see is not within their control, and the visions come on fitfully. The nature of these visions are specific to the Seer, with some having vivid viewings of real world events and others having more metaphorical viewings that are open to some interpretation. A Seer's visions do not always come true, as they are rooted in an uncertain future that is only more likely to happen than the alternatives. Their visions have been known to become self-fulfilling prophecies when individuals seek to change their fates without understanding what may lead them into the future they perceive. For this reason, some Seers refuse to inform the subject of their vision that they have had a vision at all. A Seer's Vision is a violent affair, often resembling a grand mal seizure. The Seer may convulse, speak in foreign languages and appear to be in immense pain. The Vision is usually followed by a period in which the Seer is rendered unconscious, and this period can last anywhere from a few minutes to a few days. Seer's Visions are not accessible to Draem as they are not memories or elements of the psyche. The Seer often does not know the true scope of the Vision's content, or even remember the entirety of the Vision they have had. = Gift of the Shield = Shields are immune to the Gifts of the Draem and Whisperer. Their minds are completely inaccessible to Watchers of all power levels. They cannot be manipulated by Whisperers. They are also capable of passively Silencing other mages by making physical contact with them. This effect also renders other Gifts of the Blood inactive. Shields generally have an easier time learning to Silence and Deafen other mages, though in order to do so without making skin to skin contact, they must still rely on rites. The Gift of the Shield is incredibly rare. Whole cultures deny its existence having not seen an individual in possession of it in generations; however, on average twenty Shields will be born within a span of about fifty years.Verified Shields often hold high stations in their societies, and can usually be seen in close proximity to a monarch.